
Play Splatterhouse Online
Game Info
- Platform
- TurboGrafx-16
- Genres
- Action Ā· Adventure
- Player Perspective
- Side view
- Developers
- Namco
- Publishers
- Ving Co., Ltd. Ā· Namco Ā· Namco Bandai Games
- Release date
- November 1, 1988
Summary
Splatterhouse on the TurboGrafxā16 keeps the arcadeās gritty, sideāscrolling beatāemāup core while adding a few quirks that make the console version feel its own beast. You guide Rick, a parapsychology student resurrected by the sentient Terror Mask, through West Mansionās cramped corridors, punching, kicking and unleashing a signature dropākick that skids across the floor and smashes anything in its path. Along the way you can snag a handful of weaponsāthough the TGā16 swaps the original meat cleaver for a wooden board early on and upgrades the StageāÆ4 axe to a gleaming golden cleaver.
The level design stays true to the originalās leftātoāright march, but hidden holes and ladders let you slip into alternate routes, giving each floor a faint sense of branching. Every stage ends in a singleāroom boss showdown with its own win condition, and the gameās checkpoint system sends you back to the last save point instead of the start, a subtle nudge against the classic ācreditāfeedingā habit.
The console port also trims a few of the arcadeās more graphic moments: the crawling hand no longer flashes a middle finger, the StageāÆ6 wombās gruesome fluid spill is replaced by a generic fiery burst, and the final bossās death is shown as an explosion rather than a goreāfilled splash. NorthāAmerican releases even recolor the Terror Mask to a bloodāred with black accents, strip the cathedral arches from the StageāÆ4 boss arena, swap an invertedācross enemy for a severed head, and replace the wooden cross grave with a plain tombstone. The box even sports a faux parentalāadvisory warning, reminding you that this isnāt a game for the faintāhearted.
Storyline
In the TurboGrafxā16 version of Splatterhouse, college students Rick Taylor and Jennifer Willis dash for shelter from a storm inside the infamous West Mansion, a local landmark rumored to hide Dr. Westās gruesome experiments. The moment they step inside the door slams shut and Jennifer lets out a terrified scream.
Rick awakens in the mansionās dungeon, resurrected by the sentient Mayan Terror Mask that fuses to his face and grants him monstrous strength. Empowered, he tears through hordes of creatures, finds Jennifer on a couch surrounded by monsters that flee at his arrival, and watches her transform into a towering, fanged beast. Forced to slay her, she briefly returns to normal, thanks him, and then dies.
Enraged, Rick follows the remaining monsters to a massive, bloodāstained hole that reveals the mansion itself is alive. He battles through a crimson hallway to the houseās "womb," destroys it and watches the building burst into flames. Escaping, he encounters a grave where the mask revives the giant HellāÆChaos; after defeating the monster, the mask shatters, restoring Rick to his human form. He flees as the mansion collapses, and after the credits the Terror Mask reassembles, laughs evilly, and the word āENDā appears on screen.
Edited by Maya Carter















